9/23/11

That title sounds like an infomercial. "New improved, now with panko!" And it is just that, improved. Improved for those that want a little "crunch".
This summer I was shocked how many of you loved, downloaded, raved about my tomato pie. So glad you all loved it. I got so many emails on this pie, thanking me for posting it, sharing it, how easy it is to throw together, etc.... Thank you!
I love it too, my favorite way to eat it is cold. So good with a glass of white (dry) wine. When I used up the last of my summer tomatoes, just as I was about to put the last pie in the oven to bake, it hit me, "why not add panko to the top?" So glad I did, it gives it that nice little crunch. Stays crunchy for a couple days, then gets a little soggy. But my pies don't really last longer than two days in this house.
So if you still have tomatoes leftover and can't quite let go of summer (like me), then give this new version a whirl.

ready to bake
(note: I used sliced cheese here in the photo. You can use sliced or shredded cheese. Just don't make your slices too thick or use too much.)

I like to keep my deep dish pie crust cold/sitting in the freezer till I’m ready to use; it cooks up better when it start with a cold crust.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, 350 for convection. Slice up the tomatoes in rather thick slices and place them on paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
Also place paper towels on the top.
Get out pie crust from freezer, place sliced tomatoes over crust; do a double layer of sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with a very light layer of sugar then freshly cracker black pepper.
In a bowl combine mayonnaise with shredded cheddar cheese, and the chopped up bacon. Spoon over tomatoes; try to get it spread evenly over the tomatoes, but don’t push down.
If you want a crunch, then sprinkle on the panko crumbs just before baking, push them down a bit into the topping.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Mine was done at the 25 minute mark, so best to keep an eye on it at the 20 minute mark.
I let my pie cool down about an hour before slicing into it. It really does taste best when it’s refrigerated and served cold. Serve with a nice glass of white wine.
Note: I love my crust nice and dark brown, if you don’t like it that way then cook it less. This is a really rich pie, so cut the slices smaller than you would an apple or other fruit pie.

I'm going to try that tomato pie, because CRIKEY! But when I first saw the picture, I thought it was a peach pie with panko crumbs. Now I cannot get that idea of a sweet pie with panko out of my head. Apple pie with buttered panko crumbs?? Can you create us a recipe like that??? YUM!

I'm so glad there are still some summer tomatoes hanging around the stores...I'm off to stick up. This really looks delicious, and hearty enough to be a great dinner. I'm glad I hadn't gotten around to making the original, I'll just start with the 'new and improved'!

Looks terrific! I normally focus solely on dessert recipes - the word pie caught my eye with this one - but I'm tempted to give this a shot. What's not to love about tomatoes, mayo, cheese and panko baked into a warm shell?

I found your blog from your note on Kevin's Blog (Closet Cooking). I still have tomatoes in my garden and I am guessing this is the perfect thing to take to a potluck birthday party on Sunday! Delightful! Thank you.

I say shredded because I want those people making the for the first time to have the recipe come out right and perfect. I've made this about 20 times and know what I'm doing so I use sliced. If I put sliced in there, I might give the feeling that some might use giant chunks of cheese. So please use shredded until you know how your pie will come out. Does that help you?

I wondered the picture showing slices/chunks not shredded. so what did you really do?? i make something similar with no bacon. prebake crust, spread some dijon mustard, layer tomato / swiss / cheddar, repeat. (cheese is sliced) Top with equal parts mayo/grated parm (1/3c each or 1/2c each). Spread it over to cover as evenly as possible. Bake about 30 minutes. Let it cool a bit or it will gooooo out everywhere :)

Hello! I used cheddar. I put in the recipe to shred it because it melts better. I didn't shred mine as I have made this pie over 20 times and now what I'm doing and how the cheese will melt. I put the terms shred in there so that the person making this for the first time will have it come out perfectly. Does that help you?

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com